In the telecommunications industry, a Home Location Register (HLR) is a database that contains customer information and profiles and may also contain global systems information. The HLR communicates with the Mobile Switching Center (MSC) in order to determine if a user is in the home area while trying to initiate a call. This customer information is stored in tables on the HLR. Each table may comprise thousands of entries and hundreds of attributes. The HLR is the platform through which the telecommunications provider provides service to customers. Therefore, the HLR should experience minimal downtime in order to minimize interruptions and disruptions in service to the customer. There is typically only one HLR for a service provider, so any interruptions, including both unplanned or scheduled downtime, can affect the entire network of that service provider, which may amount to millions of users in both the public and private sectors.